The Engineering Commons Podcast

Mechanical engineer Jack Reid joins Adam, Brian, Carmen and Jeff to discuss the philosophical aspects of engineering, and to review Samuel Florman’s book, “The Existential Pleasures of Engineering.” Jeff is pretty sure his life is not a syllogism, although he’s not completely sure what the term means. Our guest for this episode is Jack Reid, … Continue reading Episode 87 — Existential Engineer →

Brian, Carmen, and Jeff discuss movies and TV shows they find inspiring or entertaining (or maybe just awful) from an engineer’s perspective in this episode of The Engineering Commons podcast! Carmen recently “unplugged” his cable service, and will soon be using a Tablo device to record over-the-air TV programs. The Martian is a soon-to-be-released movie … Continue reading Episode 86 — Idiot Box →

Adam, Brian, Carmen, and Jeff discuss the values and ideals that often guide engineering decision making, even if these policies are rarely written down or mentioned in academic settings. Brian finds that Dilbert cartoons help him develop a “befuddlement with life and others.” Scott Adam’s book, Dogbert’s Top Secret Management Handbook, provides guidance on how … Continue reading Episode 85 — Unwritten Rules →

Chemical engineer Aaron Spearin chats with Jeff and Adam, sharing insights on workflow balance, value stream mapping, and the importance of interdepartmental communication. Adam gets frequent complaints about traffic backups at this time of year, as many of his employer’s road construction projects are in full swing during the summer. Our guest for this episode … Continue reading Episode 84 — Workflow Balance →

We talk with aeronautical engineer Patrick Riordan about the challenges of developing and navigating a career road map, Archimedes’ lever, and the Star Trek method for being perceived as a miracle worker. Although he’s enjoyed his career, Jeff isn’t ready to claim that he’s changed the world in any meaningful manner. Jeff points out that … Continue reading Episode 83 — Career Planning →

We talk with mechanical engineer Tim Quinn about advances being made in the world of photonics, wave–particle duality, and optical computing in this episode of The Engineering Commons. Carmen is pleased that Google Fiber is coming to his neighborhood. Our guest for this episode is Tim Quinn, a design engineer who works for Thorlabs in … Continue reading Episode 82 — Photonics →

Our conversation with mechanical engineer Jim Heilman delves into exciting advances being made with plastic materials, the types of molding equipment used to manufacture high-volume plastic parts, and whether or not the movie industry can be trusted to provide good career advice. Dustin Hoffman appeared in his first staring role as twenty-year old Benjamin Braddock … Continue reading Episode 81 — Plastics →

During this episode, we chat with researcher Jonathan Wai about the strong spatial skills exhibited by many engineers. We also discuss why standardized tests don’t measure spatial abilities, the manner in which highway clover leafs are designed, and how one particular co-host would go about reconfiguring his local deli counter. Adam describes the process of … Continue reading Episode 80 — Spatial Reasoning →

This episode centers on tools that we enjoy using, whether engineering-related or not. Jeff is of the opinion that many engineering professors dislike teaching “tools” because software packages are constantly changing in scope and syntax, and associated teaching materials must be vigilantly updated. Reliability is an important characteristic for a good engineering tool, according to … Continue reading Episode 79 — Tools of the Trade →

We discuss the pros and cons of returning to school for an advanced engineering degree in this episode of The Engineering Commons podcast. After knocking over a beer, Brian asks about the “industry exemption” for engineers. As a point of reference, Jeff has a PhD, an MBA, and an MS in Mechanical Engineering. Adam has … Continue reading Episode 78 — Grad School →